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Reading Notes Week 9: West African Folktales, Reading B


  • "The Moon and the Stars"
    • WEST AFRICAN DRAGON!
    • Anansi and his son go out hunting
      • Kweku Tsin, Anansi's son quickly kills a fine deer
      • his father goes to fetch a basket to carry the meat home in
      • takes a while, Kewku Tsin calls out to his father thinking he is lost
        • a dragon answers instead of Anansi
        • Kweku Tsin runs and hides in a cave
        • Anansi comes back and asks what happened
      • Anansi wants to see the dragon for himself
        • dragon reappears because it smells human flesh
        • captures Anansi and Kweku Tsin and takes them to his castle
        • other prisoners are there guarded by the dragon's servant and great white rooster
          • the rooster alerts the dragon whenever something happens like prisoners trying to escape
        • Kweku Tsin comes up with a plan to escape
          • makes a ladder and throws it up to heaven assured that the gods will anchor it
          • the prisoners kill and eat many cows and save the bones
          • distract the rooster with food
          • also get a magic fiddle
          • They throw the rope to heaven and the prisoners climb to escape the dragon
          • the dragon follows but every time the creature gets close Kweku Tsin throws bones to the ground to distract him
          • when he runs out of bones he stops and plays a tune on the fiddle forcing the dragon back to the ground to dance because it cannot resist the magic of the fiddle
          • when all the prisoners are safely in the heavens Kweku Tsin reaches down and cuts the ladder making the dragon fall to earth while the gods pull him up into the heavens
          • because of his cleverness, the gods made Kweku Tsin the sun, his father the moon, and his friends the stars
            • none of the others would have lived or have light if it weren't for Kweku Tsin 
  • Storytelling Notes: I really liked this story because it explains the origin of the sun, moon, and stars. I always really like stories that exist in folklore to explain natural occurrences that people didn't have the means to explain yet. I think it makes for great storytelling. I liked this whole unit actually and I think I may end up combing a few stories into a new one. I also liked "The Ungrateful Man" and "Why the Tiger Never Attacks Men Unless They Are Provoked." I liked that all of the stories from the West African unit had the fable-like element of teaching a lesson at the end. 


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